Friday, November 08, 2013

John Kerry has been on a sucking-up-to-dictators tour of the Middle East, as is the custom. In Saudi Arabia, he was asked about the ban on women driving and said, “it’s up to Saudi Arabia to make its own decision about its own social structure and other choices, and timing.” Considering who is in charge of decision-making in Saudi Arabia (hint: not the people of Saudi Arabia), this is an interesting endorsement of the legitimacy of dictators suppressing their people. Decision about its own social structure, indeed. Kerry claimed, “There’s a healthy debate in Saudi Arabia about this issue, but I think that debate is best left to the Saudi Arabian people who are engaged in it.” Yeah, nothing says healthy debate, like Saudi Arabia.

In Cairo, he said of Egypt, “the way it will unfold is the democracy is rekindled in its strength.” Rekindled? The Egyptian Army already pretty much set it on fire.

To read the transcript is to be reminded what a sucky speaker Kerry is: “They [the Egyptian people] have really demonstrated a significant resolve as they work to see their transition to meet their aspirations as they’ve tried to make that work.”

He keeps referring to the alleged path back to democracy as a roadmap, which is not reassuring to anyone familiar with Egypt’s roads or its drivers.

He says Israeli settlements “have disturbed people’s perceptions of whether or not people are serious and we’re moving in the right direction.” Yeah, because the only problem with settlements is people’s perceptions. You know what else is disturbed by settlements? The Palestinian families who are thrown out of their homes.

He says that Bashar al-Assad “cannot be part of that because of the difficulties of his ever representing all of the people of Syria.” He said that right after sucking up to the coup regime in Egypt, and right before going to the hereditary monarchy of Saudi Arabia.

“The United States is the largest single donor to the humanitarian crisis in Syria”. Um, right.